Nazim Malik's family becomes saviour for Pune-based filmmakers amid lockdown in J-K
Bhadarwah (J&K): Pune-based filmmaker Nachiket Guttikar was packing up things to leave for his home state Maharashtra when a nationwide lockdown was announced to combat the coronavirus threat.
Guttikar, along with his team members Shamin Kulkarni and Ninad Datar, had arrived in this picturesque town on March 15 to shoot for a documentary. They were scheduled to board a flight to Pune from Jammu on March 25, but the announcement of the country-wide lockdown on March 24 meant that they had to further spend at least the next three weeks at the place.
"The situation was scary when the government announced the lockdown. We were in panic because the surface as well as the air traffic was suspended and all hotels were closed," Guttikar said.
A Muslim family in Gatha village then offered them their house. "We were fortunate enough that this family graciously came forward and offered us to stay with them," Guttikar said. "It has been several weeks that we are staying with this family. We are feeling at home because of the friendly nature of all the members," he said.
"I am quite sure that this type of hospitality cannot be found anywhere. This is the real Kashmiriyat which we often listen to," he added.
The family of Nazim Malik considers itself fortunate that they got an opportunity to help distressed strangers in the wake of the crisis due to the pandemic outbreak.
"It is not a favour we had made to them. If tomorrow our children get stuck in the same situation, someone will surely extend a helping hand to them," Malik said.
"The guests are are welcome to stay at my home till the situation demands," he said.
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Trump says he ‘hasn’t even thought about’ continuing Iran ceasefire
Washington: US President Donald Trump has said he has not yet considered whether he would continue the ceasefire involving Iran, while also claiming the United States holds the advantage in negotiations.
Speaking to reporters, Trump said he was prepared to make a deal with “whoever is running the show” in Iran.
“They are fighting with each other, there’s tremendous infighting. They’re probably fighting for leadership in many cases. I think they’re fighting not to be leader because we knocked out two levels of leaders,” he said.
Trump added, “When they want they can call me. We have all the cards, we’ve won everything.”
Referring to ongoing negotiations, he said, “They gave us a paper that should’ve been better. And, interestingly, immediately when I cancelled it [envoy trip to Pakistan], within 10 minutes we got a new paper that was much better.”
“We talked about they will not have a nuclear weapon, very simple … They offered a lot, but not enough,” he added.
When asked whether he would continue the ceasefire, Trump replied, “I haven’t even thought about it.”
The remarks come as uncertainty remains over the future of the temporary truce and broader negotiations between Washington and Tehran.
